by Russell Fine
“Thank you, I am looking forward to meeting the people on your ship.”
Brealak took Jeffery and Debbie back to their shuttle. After they were seated inside, the shuttle hatch was closed. Then the exterior door opened and they left the alien ship. They didn’t talk for a minute or two and then Debbie said, “I never thought the first contact with an alien civilization would be so easy. At first, I was a little suspicious and I thought Garlut had some evil scheme in mind, but I don’t think that anymore. I truly believe he wants to be friendly and helpful. I know he wants to build power modules, but I think trading the power module technology for some of the things he has on his ship would be a great deal for us.”
“I absolutely agree. Just having artificial gravity is worth the trade.”
When the shuttle was fifty yards from the Star Rover, the shuttle bay door opened and Jeffery flew the shuttle inside. As they exited the shuttle bay, almost everybody on the ship was waiting for them in the hallway. Jeffery said, “Mike, get everybody together in the dining room in ten minutes and I’ll tell them about our meeting.”
“Okay,” Mike said, and he went back toward the bridge. Two minutes later he made the announcement about the meeting. By the time Jeffery and Debbie got to the dining room, almost everybody was already waiting for them.
Once the room quieted down, Jeffery began by giving them a synopsis of the meeting with the aliens. Then he told them, “They want Earth to join a trading association. That would make Earth part of an interstellar group of planets. They took Debbie and me on a tour of their ship. It was very impressive. The Star Rover is hardly even in the same class. Anyway, Garlut and his daughter will be here this evening after dinner and they’ll answer your questions. They also want to follow us back to Earth and have asked us to cut this mission short. However, since many of you paid to be here I’ll leave that decision to your group. Please get together and let me know your decision at dinner this evening.”
Jeffery left the dining room and went back to his quarters. Debbie went to the bridge and while she was there she loaded the video she had taken on the alien ship to their computer network where everybody onboard could view it. She talked to Mike about the aliens and then went to Jeffery’s cabin.
She knocked on the door and went inside. Jeffery rose from where he was sitting at his table and walked over to her. They hugged for a few seconds, kissed for more than a few seconds, and then sat down. Jeffery mused, “We have to stop meeting like this.”
Debbie smiled and responded, “I suppose so. You know this is a day I’ll never forget. If I had a vote, I’d prefer to go back to Earth immediately.”
“I’m a little disappointed in our exploration of Gliese 876. There really is nothing to see here and we can’t land the shuttle on any of the planets except 876F, where apparently there’s nothing to see on the ground that can’t be seen more comfortably from the ship. I’m sure I wouldn’t want to cut the mission short if we hadn’t met the aliens, but that seems to me to be more important than exploring some dead worlds.”
Debbie replied, “I agree. On another subject, we really haven’t had an opportunity to be alone since this mission started and I think we need some alone time.”
“Okay, the next time Mike has the bridge we can meet on deck D. Nobody will be there because all of the rooms on that deck are empty. Mike knows we’re more than friends, so I’ll tell him we want some time alone. Is that okay with you?”
You know, Mike’s on duty now, and his next shift starts at 8:00 tomorrow morning. So how about if we meet at 8:15 in room D4?”
“It’s a date . . . well, probably more than just a date,” Jeffery said with a grin.
“You know, sometimes you’re really crude.”
“I thought that was one of my most endearing qualities.”
Debbie smiled and said, “I’m going back to my room. I have a report to write. See you at dinner.” They kissed goodbye and she left.
Jeffery arrived at the dining room a few minutes before 5:00. He sat at his regular table, waiting for Debbie when the guests walked in. They went over to Jeffery and one of them said, “We discussed it and we’ll agree to forgo the rest of the mission if you can arrange a tour of the alien ship for us.”
“I’ll speak to Captain Garlut about that when he gets here, but I’m sure that’s not a problem. Mike’s going over to pick him up at 6:00. When we get back I’ll also talk to NASA about giving you a partial refund or a discount on a subsequent mission.”
“That would be great if you can arrange it. Please let us know.”
Mike called Jeffery at 5:50 to tell him he was about to leave to go to the alien ship. Jeffery asked him to call Garlut and let him know he was leaving and Mike said he had already done that.
Fifteen minutes later, Mike called to inform Jeffery he was on his way back, and there were three passengers: Garlut, Brealak, and Quat. Jeffery told him he would meet them at the shuttle bay.
To keep everybody comfortable they kept the ship’s sub-light engine engaged at .5 g’s.
They didn’t go anywhere; the ship simply went in a five-hundred-mile circle.
When the three aliens exited the shuttle bay, Jeffery was there to greet them. “Welcome aboard; our crew and guests are excited to meet you.”
Garlut said, “Captain Whitestone, this is Chief Engineer Quat.” Jeffery and Quat nodded at each other. Jeffery guessed shaking hands when meeting someone was not an alien custom. Quat was very tall, perhaps six-foot-eight, and he was not as slender as Garlut or Brealak, but he wasn’t fat; instead, he looked enormously strong.
“We’re meeting in the dining room. Please follow me. Garlut, I asked the guests onboard if it would be okay if we returned to Earth immediately. It’s their decision because they paid a lot of money to be on this mission. They agreed in exchange for a guided tour of your ship. I told them I’d ask you about it.”
“That is not a problem. In fact, if any of them are interested they can return to Earth on our ship. I am sure they would appreciate the constant gravity. The foods we eat are similar, and if your chef gives us samples of food we can easily duplicate them and add them to our menu. Please tell them that when you speak to them.”
“Of course, I’ll be happy to do that.”
When the group entered the dining room, everybody stood and applauded. Garlut said, “Thank you, but that is not necessary.” He walked to the front of the room and said, “My name is Garlut. I am here with my daughter, Brealak, and my chief engineer, Quat. I am sure Captain Whitestone has told you about our meeting earlier today, so I will not go over any of those details again. However, I did want to discuss the possibility of ending your mission early and returning to Earth immediately. There is really nothing very exciting to see here, and we are anxious to meet with the people on Earth and negotiate a trade agreement. Captain Whitestone mentioned that some of you would like a tour of our ship. That can certainly be arranged. Additionally, if any of you would be interested in making the return trip to Earth on our ship that can be arranged as well. I think we would both benefit from spending some time together. If any of you have any questions I would be happy to answer them.”
Thomas Mason, the exobiologist, asked, “I’m sure you’re familiar with the animals we have on Earth. Are they similar to animals on other planets?”
“Yes, they are similar in terms of species. Most planets have felines, canines, although you would probably not consider them dogs, and they have reptiles, birds, fish, and some have amphibians. The inhabitants of most planets do not have pets which you may find surprising since pets are a very important part of Earth culture. The variety of animals is amazing.”
“Do you eat the same type of foods we eat?” asked April Barr, one of the two cooks onboard.
“We have much in common with the people of Earth. We are omnivores and we have animals similar to cattle that we raise for food. We also grow plants which are almost identical to wheat and sugar cane that we use to make a variety of things like breads, pa
sta, and various sweet foods. In case any of you choose to return to Earth on our ship you can try our foods, or if you prefer, we can get samples of the foods you like and prepare them for you.”
Dr. Weber asked, “Is your physiology similar to ours?”
“Our DNA is different. We have more chromosomes than humans, but we have similar internal organs. We have two livers and only one large kidney. However, our kidneys are similar to your livers in that they can regenerate. We can also regenerate fingers and toes, but it takes a long time. Our life spans are somewhat longer too, about one hundred of our years, but our years are fifty percent longer than yours, and our days are twenty-five percent longer. If you would like to know more about us, I would be happy to have our doctor speak to you.”
“Thank you. I’d like that very much,” Dr. Weber replied.
“Garlut, my name is Ron Rice. I’m the chief engineer aboard the Star Rover. I also was part of the team that designed our wormhole drive system. It’s my understanding you have the capability of moving your ship up to a velocity of five hundred times the speed of light. How was that accomplished?”
Before Garlut could answer the question, Quat spoke. “What we discovered was that if a ship enters the wormhole at a higher velocity, it will transverse it faster. If we must travel somewhere very quickly we found that entering the wormhole at fifty percent of light speed will give us the greatest speed through the wormhole. For some reason, which we do not understand, going faster does not appear to have any additional speed advantage. Also, the speed increase does not become significant until the ship has a velocity of twenty-five percent of light speed. Coplent and Earth have similar mass, so the gravitational forces are almost identical. Like you, our bodies cannot withstand more than about 2 g’s for any length of time, so we had to find a way of eliminating the effects of inertia. You have already experienced the way we did that. We discovered the laws of physics are not valid in a time stasis field, so during the acceleration phase the entire ship, with the exception of the propulsion systems, is placed into a time stasis field until our desired velocity is reached. Then, when the acceleration stops, the time stasis field is turned off and we can enter the wormhole. Our ships are capable of accelerating at 60 g’s, but it still takes six of your days to reach fifty percent of light speed.”
After a few seconds, Ron responded, “Thank you for that information. I think, for now, we’ll be content with our limited speed. One hundred and thirty-four times the speed of light is fast enough to get almost anywhere we want to go.”
Mike asked, “You said there’s a planetary trading association you wanted Earth to join. Is this a form of multi-planet government? Are the other members aware you’ve asked Earth to join the group?”
“It is not a multi-planet form of government. But we have all agreed to a general set of rules regarding trade between planets. The rules are simple. For example, we cannot misrepresent a product’s capabilities. If we sell a product to perform a specific function, then it must perform that function. If it does not, the product can be returned for a full refund. If a seller cannot or will not give a refund, they are removed from the association. In the past fifteen hundred years that has never happened. It is also a violation of the rules to sell the same product for different amounts of money. We can set any price we like for a product, but we must always sell the product for the same price. We have a meeting every two years. At the last meeting, I told the other members that Earth would probably have interstellar travel within ten years. I was given permission to offer you the opportunity to join the association when that happened. Are there any additional questions?”
“Yes, one more question. How do you pay for the goods you buy? Do you have an interstellar currency?” Mike asked.
“Every trading planet has an account at the Trade Association Bank. When goods are bought or sold, the information is sent to the bank and the appropriate accounts are debited or credited. If a planet does not have sufficient credit to cover a debt they are asked to cover the shortfall with some type of asset. On Earth, you used to use gold, but now you use silver. We use a very rare mineral called hirodim. It is similar to diamonds. Any planet that cannot cover a debt within a specified amount of time has their membership in the trading group suspended until the debt is covered. That has only happened once.”
“If Earth doesn’t have any hirodim, how can we join your trading group?”
“Typically, this is not necessary. New members usually only sell for a while before they start buying. That way they build up a credit balance. However, if Earth needs hirodim, I am sure Coplent can find something of value to trade for it. Please understand we trade many things other than technology. Most planets have unique spices, plants, or even animals that can be traded. We will explain all this to your World Council during our meeting. Please understand that our trading group has rules, but they are easy to follow and are meant to be beneficial to all the member planets. Are there any more questions?”
Nobody asked anything so Garlut said, “I wanted to let you know I will contact Captain Whitestone in the morning with a schedule so anyone who is interested can take a tour of our ship. While onboard if you decide that you want to return to Earth on our ship, please let me know. Dr. Weber, please come over to our ship tomorrow with the tour group and I will make sure you have an opportunity to meet with our ship’s doctor. Captain Whitestone, you promised us a tour of your ship. Can we do that now?”
“Of course, please follow me.” He turned to Ron and said, “Ron, please come with us in case they have a question I can’t answer.”
They spent four hours looking at every part of the ship, then Jeffery took them back to their ship. When Jeffery got back to the Star Rover he went to the bridge because his shift there was about to start and Debbie’s was ending. He walked up to her and said under his breath, “Don’t forget about our date tomorrow morning.”
She smiled at him and said, “I’ve been thinking about it all evening.”
Jeffery’s shift was boring. Nothing happened and he almost dozed off a few times. At 7:55 Mike came in to relieve him. Jeffery looked at him and said, “The ship is yours. Have fun,” and then he left to go on his date with Debbie.
When he arrived at the room, the door was slightly ajar so he walked in. Debbie was lying on the bed, naked. He closed the door and turned to look at her. She got up and walked toward him. They embraced and kissed passionately. Then Jeffery quickly removed his clothes and they moved to the bed. Their lust took over, and it took an hour until both of them were finally satisfied. Debbie looked at Jeffery and said softly, “That was wonderful. I love you and I’m sure you love me. We have to be together. We shouldn’t have to sneak around to spend time with each other.”
“Deb, you’re right. I love you and want to be with you. When we get back to Earth I’ll tell Max we’re going to get married. What do you think he’ll say?”
“I think he’ll say two things: ‘congratulations,’ followed by, ‘you’re fired.’ You know that violates NASA rules.”
“Yes, but we’re big celebrities now. I don’t think Max would want the negative publicity associated with firing us, or changing our jobs. I’m willing to take the risk.”
“Me too.”
They stayed in bed and talked about the future for a while. Then Jeffery received a call from Garlut telling him they were ready to receive visitors. Jeffery said they would be there in a half hour. He announced that anybody who wanted to take a tour of the alien ship should proceed to the shuttle bay. Debbie told him she would take them over to the alien ship, so Jeffery could get some much-needed rest.
All ten of the guests, Dr. Weber, Ron Rice, and Beatrice Woods, the mission videographer, were waiting for Debbie at the shuttle bay. She took them over to the alien ship. After the passengers all got out of the shuttle, Brealak asked Debbie if she was going to stay. Debbie said she had to get back to the Star Rover and asked Brealak to call her when they were ready to return.
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sp; When Debbie got back to the Star Rover, she went to the dining room and sat down with a cup of coffee. She hoped she and Jeffery made the right decision. At that moment Linda Gonzalez, the ship’s nurse, walked into the dining room. She got a cup of coffee, walked over to Debbie and said, “You look deep in thought. Would you like some company?”
Debbie looked up at Linda, smiled, and said, “Sure, I could use some company right now.”
“What’s wrong?”
“My life, well more specifically, my love life. It’s almost nonexistent.”
“You do know your relationship with our captain is one of the worst-kept secrets onboard. Is that what’s bothering you?”
“Jeffery and I decided that when we get back to Earth we’re going to tell our boss we’re getting married. But both of us love our jobs and we don’t want to lose them.”
“I know it’s against NASA regulations, but I don’t think they’ll do anything. You two are returning as heroes. They won’t take any action that would reflect badly on NASA.”
“That’s what Jeffery said, so I guess I should stop worrying. Does everybody onboard know about us?”
“I think so. In any case, I wouldn’t worry about it. If you two want to spend time together, just do it.”
“Thank you, Linda. I appreciate your advice.”
“Don’t just appreciate it. Take it!” Linda exclaimed with a laugh.
“Okay, I will. If NASA decides Jeffery and I are unfit then the hell with them,” Debbie said resolutely.
The trip to the alien ship went very well. All of the guests decided to return to Earth on the alien ship. Dr. Weber spent the entire time with the doctor from the ship and came back impressed with the aliens’ medical equipment and technology. Ron Rice was overwhelmed with what he had seen on the ship and was hoping that they would be willing to give Earth most of what he saw.
That evening at dinner, Jeffery spoke to the crew and guests. “Tomorrow morning we’ll take all of our guests over to the alien ship. As soon as the shuttle is back onboard we’ll start our return to Earth. Since it will be only the crew onboard the Star Rover, we’ll be traveling by wormhole for the entire trip except for one hour per day. That will give us an opportunity to contact the alien ship and make sure their guests are okay. Although the alien ship can travel much faster than we can, they’re going to match our speed and course. We should arrive back at Earth in forty days.”